The thing about Philadelphia

I hate being a tourist.

I love seeing new things while traveling, "touring," for lack of a better word, but I hate being a tourist. However, this weekend in Philly I devoted myself to doing just that:

Being a tourist.

Standing in overcrowded lines, sitting in mind-numbing traffic, wading through massive tourist groups of Japanese teenagers...That sort of thing.

You cannot go to Philadelphia and not see Independence Hall, The Liberty Bell and the historic district. Or at least that's what I thought. The Bell is big and historically significant, but certainly nothing to get your panties in a pinch over. After a two-hour wait (partially in the rain) to obtain tickets to Independence Hall, I was unpleasantly surprised to discover that many guests bypassed the ticket line and were still allowed entry since no one was checking tickets. The guided tour was interesting, but I was kinda irked to hear,

"The only thing original in this whole building is that chair."

A CHAIR?

I just got tickets and waited for two hours while ticketless people cut ahead of me in line to see where the Declaration of Independence was supposedly painstakingly drafted in the suffocating heat of the 1776 Philadelphia summer and the only original thing you've got to show me is

A CHAIR???

Sure, it's a chair where George Washington and Ben Franklin sat now and again, but really? I could have watched National Treasure and gotten the gist of the place.

The building has been "historically renovated" to restore it to its "original splendor," but there's just nothing that original about renovation. I should give them credit for not charging for entrance, but it's still a big hassle getting in the place, even in off-peak season.

I realize it's a lot to ask that 200-year-old furnishings and artifacts are maintained, but the Colosseum has a higher percentage of original materials and I'm pretty confident it's more than 200 years old.

Okay, enough complaints about the chair. I probably could have avoided the debacle all together if I would have seen Jen14221's Philly tips on twitter, but I missed out. Maybe next time. On to the highlights instead...

The Philadelphia Cheesesteaks were good, my friend Christina took us to the original place, Pat's King of Steaks. I ordered it "wit" and with provolone, which in retrospect I realize was a mistake. Cheez-whiz is the only way to go.

The Eastern State Penitentiary is also well worth a visit. During October evenings it turns into a ridiculously popular haunted house, but with ticket prices starting at $20, it's worth seeing the place during daylight hours. I assure you, it can be equally creepy. The ESP is one of the world's first penitenitaries, with an estimated 500 other prisons in the world based on its model. It's creepy, decrepit, interesting, authentic and home to Al Capone's former jail cell.

My advice? When in Philly, skip the chair, go to prison.